Uhrichsville landlord lawsuit goes to trial
NEW PHILADELPHIA (WJER) (Nov. 14, 2024) – The legal dispute over the city’s landlord registration ordinance is now in a judge’s hands.
R & N Ventures is suing the city, claiming the registration fee is an illegal tax not being used exclusively for services related to rental properties. During a Thursday morning bench trial in Tuscarawas County Common Pleas Court, Owner Randall Colaner testified that he had never paid the yearly fee despite owning multiple rental properties in the city.
“Have you seen a direct benefit to you as a landlord based upon the monies collected by this ordinance?” asked Attorney Matthew Onest, who’s representing the rental company.
“Not at all. No,” Colaner responded.
“And ultimately what is your goal with this lawsuit?”
“To get judicial decision stating that it’s an illegal tax. Number 2, all money collected if the ruling does go that way be returned to the people who paid it.”
Jeryl McGaffick has been Uhrichsville’s auditor since the beginning of the year. She stated under oath that registration fees go into a specific line item within the general fund.
“I don’t ever handle the actual money. It goes to the mayor’s secretary, and she makes the deposit and gives me the information. I put it on our system, and it is receipted in as a landlord registration fee.”
Collections pay for the city’s code enforcement official. Law Director Jeff Merklin believes that’s a permissible use since roughly 68-percent of homes in the city are rentals.
This can be found constitutional not only on the words you use but who they’re applied, and that is what I would like the court to focus on in this particular case. The city may not have done this perfectly. I’m not trying to say that it has but the implementation of how it’s actually happened is certainly constitutional and that’s what I would like the court to focus on: the big picture.”
Judge Elizabeth Thomakos will consider the testimony and evidence from both sides before issuing a written ruling.